Has Britain finally shaken off the legacy of the Allegro?

Few vehicles typified to such a catastrophic extent the demise of Britain’s reputation as the “workshop of the world”, or the bursting of the “Made in Britain” myth, more than the Allegro. Designed by the great Sir Alec Issigonis, the man behind the all-conquering Mini, the Allegro, like many of British Leyland’s cars in its later years of existence, was plagued by a damning reputation for unreliability, rust and poor workmanship. One national newspaper even awarded the Allegro the dubious title of the “worst British car ever made” in an era that was defined by some appallingly bad vehicles that rolled off the assembly lines.

In truth, the Allegro was just one of the many badly-made UK products of the era, which damaged the reputation of “Made in Britain” as an internationally respected brand for almost an entire generation. It also saw domestic consumers abandon any loyalty to British brands and products in favour of the growing swell of imported goods from the US, Japan and Germany, which were seen to be of better quality and superior technology.

Other British innovations of that era – such as Concorde, which although revolutionary was never commercially viable or successful as a commercial aircraft — were also tainted with the country’s reputation for cobbling things together in a “Heath Robinson” fashion.

For a time “Brand Britain” even became toxic for some of the country’s biggest companies who rushed to lose the “Britishnesss” from their corporate logos. British Airways became just BA and for a spell ditched its aircraft tail fins that flowing red, white and blue of the Union flag for polyglot patterns intended to signify its global appeal. British Petroleum morphed into BP, exchanging its iconic green and yellow shield emblem for something resembling a flower.

British Aerospace also went along with the trend by transforming itself into BAE Systems, but at least it kept the Union flag as part of its branding. Reversing the pattern of British companies either seeing no value in marketing their Britishness overseas, or indeed considering any reference to “Made in Britain” on their products as a potential liability in overseas markets, has arguably taken half a lifetime to reverse.

The irony is that in many cases it has taken foreign investors to understand how best to harness the value of the “Made in Britain” label, especially in the car industry. Recent success stories such as Jaguar Land Rover, Mini and Bentley are all examples of inherently “British” companies owned by foreign companies that have placed the Union flag at the centre of their strategy to export a premium product, especially in high-growth markets such as China.

New manufacturing companies have also woken up to the significant value that is increasingly being derived from placing Britishness at the forefront of their products. A recent visit to the Brompton factory in West London revealed how this has helped the company become one of the dominant players in a rising sector having now produced more than 100,000 folding bicycles. The company said it is increasingly looking at overseas markets such as Japan for growth opportunities where it can also leverage its “Made in Britain” credentials.

According to Rebecca McNeil, head of business lending at Barclays Corporate Banking: “These new markets can be more challenging to enter but for those that persevere, there are opportunities for a greater return. Rather than focusing on seemingly saturated developed markets, exporters should seriously consider looking further afield as there are bigger premiums to be had when products are marketed as ‘Made in Britain’ .”

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